Treasure Box
by Constant Distraction
Summary: Arwen has been avoiding Aragorn for weeks, and when he asks why, she shows him what matters to her.


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Treasure Box

Disclaimer: Even after many plots and schemes, I still don't own Lord of the Rings. I guess I'll leave it to Tolkien then.

A/N: I've been on a long writing break to try to improve my writing. I wasn't going to post this yet, but because I am a fool, I have to. This is an apology story, so let me get to the point of it.

Sadie and Jason: Sorry! Very sorry! I'm a lunatic. Don't listen to a word I say from now on.

All right. On with the story. This takes place after ROTK, probably 20 years or so after Aragorn is made King. Aragorn's POV. I'd really appreciate it if you all review and tell me what you think. Flame me if you must, otherwise, enjoy!

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The shadows in the garden were dark enough to conceal my form. I pressed my back against the wall, careful to see but remain unseen.

Arwen sat silently on a stone bench, staring at the grass in front of her. No smile graced her lips, and there was no laughter in her eyes. She looked like a statue, her face free of any emotion, frighteningly blank. I let out a frustrated sigh. For weeks she had avoided me, and we had gotten into many small arguments when we were together. I missed her smile, her happiness.

Summoning my courage, I stepped out from the shadows and made my way to my wife. She didn't even look up. "Why do you avoid me, Arwen?" I asked. "What is it you seek in these gardens that I cannot give you?"

I waited for a few moments before she replied. "If you truly wished to know what I seek, and why I avoid you, you would have asked earlier."

I sat down at the far end of the bench, my mind working to make something out of her statement. Was that it? Did she feel I was neglecting her? I cleared my throat to speak. "If time is what you want, I will take a hiatus from rulership, and leave Faramir in charge. I-" When I saw the venomous look Arwen was giving me, I quickly shut my mouth. 

She shook her head and cried, "That doesn't matter!"

"What matters, then?" I asked exasperatedly. Arwen shot to her feet and tensed up. I thought she was going to storm off, and I cursed myself for causing another argument. But instead, she seemed to change her mind.

"I'll show you what matters," she said, turning on her heels and motioning for me to follow her.

I eagerly strode after her. It had been weeks since she offered any view of her feelings. Arwen led me to our chambers. She flung open the door to her wardrobe and reached into the back, drawing out a medium-sized, ornately carved box. She set it on the floor and told me to sit by her. 

"This is what matters," she said forcefully, opening the box. An assortment of items rested on the dark velvet lining. "This is where I've put everything that is important to me in some way."

"You never told me about this," I said, surveying its contents.

"You never asked," Arwen shot back.

"Ask? You've barely said a word to me since the last-" I bit back my words as I realized the cause of her sorrow. Since the last miscarriage. Immediately I felt horrible. I hadn't wanted to bring up the lost baby. It weighed heavily on both our minds.

Arwen ignored the comment, and began to pull items out of the box. She pressed a pale blue beaded necklace into my hand. "My naneth gave this to me before she left for Valinor," she explained. "I never wanted to wear it. I was afraid I would break it somehow."

I held the necklace carefully, knowing what it meant to her. I placed it on the rug as Arwen handed me the next object. It was a dry, withered, almost bare stem that must have once been a flower. 

"Ada used to have a huge rosebush outside the window in his study," Arwen said, her tone softening a bit. "He didn't have it pruned often, so it was big and tangled and beautiful. Whenever Ada would lock himself up to do work, I would hide by the rosebush and giggle until he found me. He always acted so surprised, like I was clever to find such a hiding place. It my way to stay with him even when he had to work, and he never minded." She took the rose and laid it next to the necklace. "When I left for Lothlorien I wanted to take a piece of that bush with me, to remind me of Ada, and I still have it."

Arwen pulled a stack of parchment from the box, tied together with a blue ribbon. "These are all the letters you sent me, Aragorn," she said, smiling slightly. My heart leaped as I saw a bit of her old self shine through. "I kept every one, and I re-read them a thousand times when you were in the Wild."

I set the letters down and glanced at the box. There was only one thing left, a piece of parchment lying facedown on the velvet. Arwen pulled it out and looked at it. I moved behind her to see.

She held a sketch that I knew she had done herself. It was a drawing of a young boy, no more than maybe five years old. In the sketch he looked as though he was staring straight at me. Arwen had drawn him in a man's arms. The drawing only showed the back of the man's head, but even that was familiar to me. Not the head, but the Crown of Gondor that rested on it.

"This is our son," Arwen said, so softly that I could barely hear her. "I saw a vision of him, when I was going to the harbor. He looks just like you." Her voice became thick with sadness. "Only I don't know if he'll ever be born, because it's so hard for Elves to carry children, and I've lost-"

I knelt in front of her and took her in my arms, cutting off her words and letting her sob into my shirt. I rocked her back and forth, whispering into her hair, "It's all right, love, it's all right."

Even as I comforted her, I couldn't help but wonder about the child. My son. Now that I had seen him, or at least a drawing of him, how could I not desperately want him to be born? I reminded myself that this sadness was tenfold for Arwen and went back to whispering to her. 

Would I ever be the father of the boy in the drawing? I asked myself, wishing there was some way to know for sure.

Only time would tell.

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End. Please let me know what you thought, I'd really appreciate it. I just realized this has a potential for a sequel- is it worth it? Please review, thanks!

P.S. Sadie- am I forgiven?


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